The invention relates to animal headgates and, more specifically, to an animal headgate that includes a pair of neck-engaging yokes mounted for coordinated horizontal sliding movement and including an automatic locking mechanism for holding the yokes in an animal-restraining position therefor.
In the practice of animal husbandry, particularly with livestock such as cattle, hogs and sheep, it is frequently necessary to restrain the animals during the performance of certain procedures. For example, male calves are typically castrated at an early age. They may also be branded, dehorned, and have ear tags attached. At various times it may also be necessary to administer medicines either by use of hypodermic syringes or orally. Headgates are commonly used to restrain the animal to facilitate all of the above procedures. Because these and other procedures may be performed at various time throughout the life cycle of the animal, it is important that the restraint device be adaptable for use on both young and fully grown animals.
Most known headgates require manual operation to accurately coordinate the closing of the headgate after the head of the animal but before the shoulders of the animal have extended through the headgate. This requires that the operator be stationed at the headgate at all times when an animal is to be restrained. Accordingly, a minimum of two people is required to effectively restrain an animal using conventional headgates--one person to operate the headgate and another to prod or chase the animal into position.
The present invention accommodates a wide variety of ages and sizes of livestock and is adaptable for automatic closing to enable a single operator to restrain an animal.